Seeing a deer prancing around your lawn through your window is amazing. While it is a lovely sight, deer can cause a lot of mess, and you might find it challenging to clean deer poop.
Homeowners spend a lot of money on lawn care to make it look more welcoming. If you are not careful, deer will eat your lovely plants, and leave their smelly deer droppings in return.
Although deer poop provides multiple nutrients for your backyard plants, most homeowners would like to get rid of it immediately. In some countries, deer droppings are used to fertilize the soil naturally.
If that’s not you, and you need to get rid of deer poop in your backyard, this article will help you find the best solutions.
Table of Contents
How Do You Get Rid Of Deer Poop In Your Yard?
The best way to remove deer poop from your yard is by using kitty litter or sawdust and a shovel. Just spread the litter over the deer droppings, then scoop it up and discard it properly.
The litter will absorb the moisture from the deer poop, preventing the bad odor from disseminating, and will make it a bit easier to manage.
Ensure that you spread sufficient sawdust over the poop. It is an effective and natural way of conveniently discarding deer poop from your backyard.
If spreading kitty litter or sawdust over deer poop is too much for you, you can adopt numerous chemical methods for deer excrement removal. For this purpose, you can get a strong acid that will disintegrate the deer poop when sprayed on it.
Be mindful that using chemicals in excess can be harmful to your plants and their water source. Therefore, we highly recommend sticking to the natural removal of deer poop.
Does Keeping Deer Poop In The Yard Offer Any Benefits?
Although gross and smelly, deer poop does have some benefits to offer. Your backyard plants and flowers need nutrient-rich soil to grow healthy and quickly.
While most landscaping experts suggest adding fresh manure to your garden soil, deer poop can be a cost-effective alternative.
One thing to note is that the deer will not spread poop uniformly as you would like. Deer droppings concentrated in a specific area can burn away the grass. Therefore, it would be your responsibility to scatter it evenly across your backyard using a shovel.
Animal experts believe that deer droppings are natural fertilizers that provide nitrogen to the soil. It also has traces of other useful nutrients such as phosphorous, cellulose, and lignin that can fertilize the soil. However, if you plan to use deer manure, ensure that you wear gloves and refrain from touching it.
Despite several benefits that deer manure offers, it can be a source of bad odor in your backyard. So you should ensure that the deer droppings do not rot. Otherwise, the smell will quickly become a problem.
Can Deer Poop Pose Any Health Risks To Humans?
Deers (like all animals) excrete waste components in their feces from their body. Their poop contains many harmful substances that can pose health risks to humans.
Deer droppings contain dangerous waste substances and microorganisms that can adversely affect your health. Upon direct contact, many harmful parasites and bacteria can deposit themselves on your skin, leading to numerous diseases or various infections.
Animals, including deer, carry many parasites and bacteria on their fur that might drop with their poop. Inhaling its bad odor or direct skin contact can result in sickness. Animal experts warn of chronic wasting diseases (CWD) upon contact.
How To Prevent Deer From Pooping On Your Lawn?
If a deer has easy access to your lawn, it might poop there often. Although there are several ways to prevent deer from pooping on your lawn, the best way is to discourage them from entering by:
- Building a fence.
- Keeping a dog to protect your garden.
- Motion-activated water sprinklers.
Deer Repelling Plants
Certain plants can help to keep deer away. These repellent plants emit odors pungent for the deer, and they will usually keep their distance.
Growing such plants in your backyard can act as a deterrent to keep unwanted visitors off your turf. Such plants include:
- Daffodils
- Foxgloves
- Garlic
- Onion
- French marigold
- Asparagus
Bright Lights
Bright lights are an excellent way of deterring deer from entering your backyard and feasting on your plants. Since deer are not used to bright lights in the wild, anything that shines bright can prevent deer intrusion.
You can try a wind chime or hanging lightweight pots to clang with one another. This way, the deer will avoid your backyard due to the unusual noise.
Pepper Spray
Pepper spray is also an effective repellent to keep deer from entering your space. While you can find many pepper sprays in any store, homemade repellents are also effective and cheap.
Mix five tablespoons of cayenne pepper, one tablespoon of dish soap, and one-gallon water to make homemade pepper spray. Stir the liquid and spray it on your backyard plants to keep the deer away.
Chemical Fertilizers
Some chemical fertilizers can act as excellent deer repellants as well as fertilizing the garden soil. They have certain ingredients or smells that deer hate. Spraying your plants discourages the deer from eating them and even drives them away.
However, you might have to apply it several times monthly for desired results.
Final Thoughts On Getting Rid Of The Poop
Using a shovel to remove the deer poop from your backyard is one of the best ways to get rid of it. Or you can use chemicals to disintegrate their droppings, which might be costly and harmful to plants.
While most people will not have a problem trying to tackle this themselves, we highly recommend acquiring professional landscaping services if needed.
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Last update on 2024-05-03 at 09:59 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
